Field Trip
by JayBorb
Summary: Danny's class is going on a field trip, to the Ghost Zone! Will Danny's secret stay safe? Will everyone be okay? /ABANDONED STOP ASKING FOR UPDATES/
1. Preparations

**Hey everybody! I know lots of you want me to add more to Ghost Speak, but I just can't think of anything more, I've tried to write a second chapter, but this came to mind instead, so, here you go! I hope you all like it! I've got chapter two on the back burner, and I'll try to update once a week.**

* * *

It was last period on Friday afternoon, and Danny Fenton was waiting (not so) patiently for the bell to ring. His english teacher, Mr. Lancer, stood in front of the room of anxious teenagers.

"Alright, class. I have an announcement to make before you leave." Some groans were heard throughout the classroom. "This coming Monday we will be going on a field trip." The groans were replaced with cheers.

A nerd in front of the class raised his hand, the boy was named Mikey. "Sir, isn't it a little late to hand out permission slips if we only have two days to get them signed?" A chorus of agreeing noises were heard as people realized their parents may not let them go on such short notice.

"Your parents have all known about this trip for weeks. They've all been emailed PDF versions of our permission slips, and have been asked to print, sign, scan, and email them back." Mr. Lancer answered.

The hand of Dash Baxter shot up next. "Where are we going?"

"That will be a surprise, students. Your parents know, but have been asked to not tell you. Do not ask them, you will not receive an answer." A series of 'oohs' were heard. "The students that will be coming on the field trip are; Dashiel Baxter, Kwan Chen, Lester Connors, Daniel Fenton, Tucker Foley, Valerie Grey, Michael Johnson, Samantha Manson, Nathan Matthews, Paulina Sanchez, and Star Thunder. Those of you who were not called will be attending school like regular on Monday, but you will not have english last period, as I am going with the class. Those who were called upon, be in this classroom at least ten minutes before the first period starts, and make sure to wear shoes that are comfortable to walk in, meaning, no heels, ladies." Mr. Lancer stared directly at Paulina and Star. "I want you to bring a lunch, and some water as well, we will be gone for the whole day." As Lancer finished his announcement, the bell rang. "Class dismissed."

The students who were going to go on the field trip cheered as they ran out of the classroom, while the rest just walked out normally. Everyone, that is, except our trio of heroes, Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, and Tucker Foley. Unknown to everyone but Sam and Tucker, Danny Fenton was actually none other than Danny Phantom, Amity Park's ghost superhero.

The trio left the classroom slower than the rest of the students so no one would hear them talk. "How long do you think we'll be gone?" Tucker asked.

Danny groaned. He really hoped that they wouldn't be gone for too long. "Hopefully, we'll be back from wherever we're going before night."

"We'd better brainstorm ideas of where we might be going, could help us pack." Sam suggested.

"Well, it's not the museum." Danny started. "We'll probably be leaving town."

"Let's get back to your place to talk, definitely safer than discussing here." Tucker suggested, not looking up from his PDA. "I'll set up a list of possible places we'll be going."

"Good idea, Tuck." Danny said.

The trio walked to Fenton Works, all three of them worrying about the location of the field trip.

"How do you know we won't be in Amity?" Sam asked as they walked.

"Simple, Mr. Lancer said we'd be gone all day. Usually, a trip within the city would take a few periods at most." Danny replied.

"What if we're going to the Ghost Zone, dude?" Tucker asked.

Danny's eyes widened, he hadn't thought of that. Now that it's in his mind though, he did remember seeing his parents working on the spectre speeder, specifically, they were extending it. "Shit, I think you might onto something, Tuck."

"Wait, really? I was just joking, man." Tucker replied.

"I haven't been in the lab for a couple of days, but last week, Mom and Dad were making the Spectre Speeder longer, like a bus." Danny stated.

"Oh, fuck." Sam muttered. "We'd better bring a shit ton of weapons."

"And first-aid supplies." Danny supplied.

"And food." Tucker added.

"Water might be a _little_ more important, Tucker." Sam said.

"We'd better get a game plan together, then." Danny suggested as the trio reached Danny's front door.

* * *

It was late Sunday afternoon, and our favourite trio has finally prepared themselves for the trip of a lifetime.

"I'm not sure about this guys, what about my secret?" Danny asked.

"You know, there's still a chance that we won't be going to the Ghost Zone." Sam started. "I'm going."

"What?" Danny and Tucker asked in unison.

"My parents absolutely _HATE_ your parents guts. There's no fuckin' way they'd let me go to the _Ghost Zone_ , with _your parents._ " Sam explained.

"Makes sense. But still, your Grandma might have signed it instead. You _know_ she'd let you go." Danny pointed out.

"True, but we have to be prepared for anything, and I mean _anything_. Even _not_ going to the Zone has to be considered." Sam countered.

"Guys, calm down. We're prepared for anything this trip throws our way, we just gotta hope we've got everything we might need." Tucker mediated between the two parties.

"Yeah, you're right, Tuck." Danny said.

* * *

Monday morning came sooner than Danny had wanted it to. He absolutely _dreaded_ the idea of going to the Ghost Zone with his class. Sure, he loved being in the Ghost Zone, but with his classmates? No way! What if one of his enemies came and attacked them? What if his secret identity was revealed? _What if someone got hurt?_

That last 'What if' echoed through Danny's head as he was getting dressed, putting on his usual white t-shirt with a red oval in the centre, a pair of blue jeans, and his red Converses. He made sure to grab a pair of black fingerless gloves that he'd designed a few months ago. They had similar technology to that of the Ghost Gauntlets, to allow Danny to be able to harm ghosts in his human form, and they were keyed into his ecto-signature so that they couldn't harm him in his ghost form. He pulled the gloves on, picked up his backpack, which had been filled with potential necessities the night before, and ran downstairs to eat his breakfast.

Strangely enough, no ghosts had attacked last night, so Danny was actually pretty well rested. By the time he finished his third bowl of cereal, it was already 8:15. _Shit, can't be late to this!_ Danny thought as he ran out of the house and into an alley. Once sure that no one could see him, he called upon the cold feeling that was always there, just above his stomach. In a bright flash of light, a white halo burst from his waist. It then split in two, one climbing up over his head, the other dropping down below his feet. Once they were gone, town hero Danny Phantom stood where Danny Fenton did just moments before. In a blur of black and white, Danny flew at over 120 mph to the school.

He made it to the classroom with just one minute to spare, happy to see Sam and Tucker waiting for him. "Hey guys."

"Hey, dude." Tucker greeted.

"Hey, Danny. " Sam greeted.

Just as the trio sat in their seats, Mr. Lancer stood up in front of the class. "Alright, students. I'll be taking attendance, then we will each walk to the bus single file." Agreeing sounds were heard from the students who were listening.

A minute later, attendance was finished, and the class was being herded to the bus. Mikey, Nathan, and Lester sat at the front of the bus, trying to put as much distance between them and the jocks as possible. The 'A-listers' sat in the middle of the bus, and Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat at the very back.

The pneumatics in the door hissed as the last student climbed on. The bus jerked slightly before starting the journey to who knows where. Every bump sent the trio about an inch off their seats, and the roar of the ancient motor was no quieter in the back than it was in the front.

Danny looked out the window, and as he saw the neon lights of the Fenton Works sign, he repeated ever so quietly, _Please don't stop._ _Please don't stop._ _Please don't stop._ The bus pulled to a stop right under the neon sign. Danny groaned, and Tucker placed a hand on his back.

Danny's parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, ran outside as soon as they heard the bus pull up. They watched as the students filed out one by one onto the sidewalk in front of their house.

"What kind of field trip is this?" Dash asked immediately, "I thought we were goin' somewhere?" Several 'yeahs' were heard from the group of confused students.

"Students, we will be going departing soon." Mr. Lancer answered cryptically, a small smile on his face.

"Hi, kids! I want all of you to come into the living room, where we'll be explaining what will be happening." Maddie said as Jack ushered the group inside.

Once everyone was situated, Maddie spoke. "Alright, kids., we've kept you in the dark long enough. We'll be going into the Ghost Zone!" The students reactions ranged anywhere from an excited squeal to a fearful squeak.

"Now what do you kids know about GHOSTS?" Jack asked. No one answered. "Well, a GHOST is-"

"Jack, sweetie, why don't we take the kids down to the Lab, first." Maddie interrupted, "Come on, kids!" She yelled as she lead the group through the kitchen, and into the basement lab.

As the group descended the stairs into the lab, the students marveled at the technology, muttering to their friends and pointing at the portal on the far wall. Once everyone was inside, Maddie started explaining what the group will be doing, as well as warning everyone not to touch anything.

Danny, Sam, and Tucker tuned out the lecture. There was really no point in listening, anyways. They retreated to the far back of the lab, behind everyone else.

Tucker pulled out his PDA. "Let's go over our list one more time. Danny, you got the water?"

"Yup, thirty bottles. Hope the bag doesn't break." Danny answered.

"Zone map?"

"Check."

"Heavier blasters?"

"Check."

"Okay, Sam, wrist rays?"

"Check." She replied.

"Thermoses?"

"Check."

"Lipstick blasters?"

"Check."

"And I've got five first aid kits, four boxes of granola bars, and six boxes of Pop-tarts." Tucker concluded. "Looks like we've got everything."

By the time the trio was finished going over what they had, the group had started boarding the Spectre Speeder Bus. Everyone sat in the same arrangement they had on the way to Fenton Works, nerds in front, A-listers is the middle, and our favourite trio in the back. As the last student sat down, Maddie took the wheel and the engine whirred to life, making a sound similar to that of the gentle hum of a desk fan. The vehicle slowly rose a few inches off the ground, and inched it's way toward the entrance to the portal.

* * *

 **Okay, just a couple of little notes at the end here. When I was thinking of last names for the students in Danny's class, I used names I had seen other people use, and yes, I think that Star is TOOOOTALLY Lance Thunders daughter. I mean, why not?**

 **Sam strikes me as the kind of person to swear, A LOT.**


	2. Welcome to the Ghost Zone

Everyone was worried about entering a different dimension, some leaning forward in their seats to get through faster, others leaning back as far as possible to try and avoid going in at all, while Tucker just theatrically yawned and stretched his arms over his head. Danny and Sam leaned on the back rests of the seats. As soon as they entered the Ghost Zone, Danny felt instantly more alert and aware. The resonant ectoplasm in the Zone stimulated his ghost half, and made him feel more awake than ever.

It wasn't long until the class got over their sudden fear as curiosity overwhelmed them. Mikey was the first one to look out the windows. "What are those purple things up there?" He asked, pointing towards a group of floating purple doors. Danny knew they were the entrances to different lairs, but he couldn't say it.

"We don't really know, this is our first time here, too." Maddie said, peering through the windshield with wide, violet eyes.

Gasps were heard throughout the bus, they were with inexperienced tour guides! Danny scoffed at the panic in the front of the bus, he could travel through the ghost zone with his eyes closed. Sam and Tucker thought the reactions of their classmates were entertaining, too. Eventually, Maddie and Jack had managed to calm everyone down, and Mr. Lancer was back in his seat as well.

The trip went well for about ten minutes, then Danny's ghost sense went off. When is the Ghost Zone, his ghost sense only goes off if there is a powerful ghost nearby. Groaning, he looked out the window and, lo and behold, Skulker was flying towards them.

"Tucker, get the shield up." Danny whispered.

Nodding, Tucker ran to the control panel on the back wall of the bus. Quickly, he plugged in his PDA and started up the ghost shield generator.

Maddie and Jack looked at each other, a question, unsaid but understood, hung between them, _Did you do that?_ Their confusion was quickly solved as a deep voice interrupted their thoughts.

"Hello, Whelp." Skulker said. "I have come for your pelt." Students looked around, wondering what unfortunate soul was the ghosts target.

"GHOOOOOST!" Jack screamed before pressing five buttons at once with his oversized fist. Gigantic blasters and ecto-foamers came bursting out of compartments in the outer wall, and each one aimed directly at Skulker.

Completely unfazed by the sudden overload of weapons, Skulker continued, "Ahh, yes. These humans do not know your identity, Ghost Child." He dodged a blob of ecto-foam, then shot out the blasters. "That will make the collection of your pelt that much easier."

Skulker shot missiles at the ghost shield relentlessly. He knew he couldn't break it, but he kept shooting in order to drain the craft of power. About fifteen minutes of one-sided warfare later, Skulker was confident he'd drained most of the crafts energy. The ghost shield started to flicker, and he managed to shoot the generator directly. With the ghost shield gone, Skulker would have no trouble capturing the ghost child. The craft started to descend, he could hear the children on board screaming. He was just about to fly down and take the whelp when he heard a jingle. Looking down at the PDA that was somehow still on his wrist, he read, "Go to library, take out book on purple backed gorrilla?" His booster rockets then protruded from his back, and he flew, unwillingly, to the nearest portal. As he flew, he yelled, "I thought I disabled that!"

Back inside the spectre speeder, Danny and Tucker high fived. Tucker had managed to get a hold of the signal from the PDA Skulker stole from him and hacked it, causing Danny's old schedule to override Skulkers systems. Their celebration was short-lived, however.

The Spectre Speeder Bus started losing altitude quickly. All Maddie could do was steer it towards a floating island and hope everyone survived the crash. The island came closer at a sickening speed, until the bus crashed and rolled into a large rock.

Inside, the students and Mr. Lancer were thrown against the side of the bus, since only the front seats had seat belts. The bus had, luckily, landed right-side up, so everyone could sit back in their seats.

Danny noticed that Star's arm was bleeding. He reached under his seat and pulled out the buses first aid kit, no point in wasting one of the ones Tucker had when there was one right there. "Star." Danny called out to her. "You're bleeding."

Star hadn't even noticed that her arm was bleeding until Danny pointed it out. Now that she knew she was bleeding, her arm really hurt. Danny walked over to her, first aid kit in hand.

"I know first aid, let me wrap that." Danny said. Slowly, Star held her arm out to Danny. He pried the first aid kit open and pulled out a roll of gauze and some disinfectant. "This'll sting a bit." He mumbled as he poured a small amount of hydrogen peroxide onto the cut. Star hissed as the peroxide dribbled onto the cut. Carefully and skillfully, Danny wrapped the gauze around her arm.

When he was done, Star's arm felt so much better. She examined the bandages, and as she did so, Mr. Lancer came over to her.

"I must say, Mr. Fenton, that is a very high quality job. I've only seen doctors wrap a wound so well." He commented.

Danny blushed slightly, "Uhh, thanks, I guess."

Maddie then came from the front of the bus. "That _is_ very good. Where did you learn to dress a wound so well, Danny?" She asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

Danny's mind raced to think of an excuse. He couldn't tell them that he had practice on himself from the injuries he received ghost fighting for the past two years. He looked back to Sam, and an idea struck him. "Uhh, Sam wants to be a vet, so, she, uhh, showed Tucker and I everything she taught herself online." It wasn't a lie, Sam _did_ teach herself first aid online, and she _did_ teach he and Tucker.

Sam was quick to play along. "Yeah, Mrs. Fenton. I taught myself first aid a few years ago and showed the guys."

The answer had caused Maddie to lose the small amount of worry she had. "Well, that's good, then."

Jack then came from the front of the bus, a look of pure shame and defeat on his normally cheerful face. "I have some bad news, everyone. I can't get the speeder to start. That ghost back there drained all her energy. We don't even know if the atmosphere in the Ghost Zone is safe to breath, so Maddie and I can't go outside to try and fix her up." Maddie came and put a hand on his shoulder. "Even if we could go out there, we don't have any tools or materials to fix her."

"You mean we're trapped in the Ghost Zone!?" Dash yelled.

"With ghosts that want to kill us!?" Kwan added.

Students started panicking. Nathan fainted. Star screamed. Valerie seemed to be seething, probably because she can't use her Red Huntress gear without blowing her identity.

"Maybe Danny Phantom will save us!" Paulina gushed.

"That ghost kid's nothing but an odd manifestation of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness." Maddie said, slightly upset by the teens trust in that wretched being.

Danny growled quietly at his mother's shameless insults. He walked to Sam and Tucker. "We'll need to lead them through the Zone, won't we?"

"I'm going with a definite _yes_." Sam started. "But how are we gonna explain why we know our way around the _fucking Ghost Zone_?"

"Yeah, dude, how _will_ we explain that? It's not like we can just tell them the truth." Tucker added.

"Maybe we can." Danny said, having come up with an idea.

"What do you mean?" Tucker asked.

"We tell them what they need to know, but not what they don't. It's not lying, but it's not telling the truth, either." Danny elaborated.

"Considering that we almost always do that, it's definitely the most obvious answer." Sam commented. "Why didn't _I_ think of that?" She muttered under her breath.

Danny's advanced hearing picked up on that. He smirked, but didn't say anything.

Slowly, he walked up to his parents and put on his best nervous act. "Uhh, Mom, Dad?" He asked timidly.

"Yes, sweetie?" Maddie answered. She turned to look at Danny and saw that his gaze was on the floor, refusing to meet her eyes. "What is it?"

"I, uhm-" He began, "I- I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Danny boy?" Jack asked, worry showing in his cobalt eyes.

Danny sucked in a big breath of air, then, all in one word, he said, "I'vebeenherebefore."

"Could you repeat that, sweetie?" Maddie asked.

Danny's gaze never left the floor, and his hands twisted nervously behind his back. The nervousness wasn't even an act anymore, he was _sure_ to be in _serious_ trouble when they got back to the Real World. He sucked in another deep breath, "I've been here before."

Maddie and Jack, along with everyone else on the Speeder, stared wide eyed at Danny. You could hear a pin drop it was so quiet. Danny rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous tick he'd inherited from his father.

Maddie was the first to recover from this news. "What do you _mean_ you've 'been here before'? You've been in the Ghost Zone?!" She asked incredulously and on the verge of screaming.

"Uhh, y- yeah, I- I have." He wasn't even faking the stutter anymore. His mom was _pissed_ and he knew it. "B- but before you freak out, I was in the spectre speeder each time and I took all necessary safety precautions an-" He was cut off by a hug from Maddie.

"Why would you go into the Ghost Zone? Why would you ever think that it would be safe to go to such a dangerous place by yourself? What if something happened to you? What if-" This time Maddie was cut short as she descended into sobs. Her _baby boy_ could have been hurt or killed or worse! She should have had more safety precautions for her children other than 'stay out of the lab.' What kind of mother was she? She let her son go into an alternate _dimension_. She must be the worst mother ever.

"Mom, Mom, calm down. I'm fine. I'm not dead _(mostly, Danny thought)_. No ghosts have hurt me. It's okay." Danny felt really awkward, _Normally, the Mom calms down the kid,_ He thought. Eventually, Maddie let go of him. Danny rubbed the back of his neck again. "I, uh, I only told you because I wanted to let you know that the atmosphere _is_ safe to breathe, and that I have a map that Sam, Tucker and I made." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it, showing an expertly drawn Pariah's Keep in the centre of the page, surrounded by many other expertly drawn islands, each labeled with the locations title and the amount of time it took to get there from the Fenton Portal.

"Wow, Danny boy, you sure can draw!" Jack, ever so easily distracted, complemented his son's map.

"Uhh, thanks, I guess." Was all Danny could think to reply with.

"Danny. Why would you leave the spectre speeder when you had been here before?" Maddie asked.

"Oh, uhm…" He tried to remember the first time he was in the Zone. "Remember when you went to Aunt Alicia's house to celebrate her divorce?" At his mother's nod he continued, "Well, I was cleaning the lab after Dad went to chase after you, and I accidentally knocked his present into the Ghost Zone. I went after it using the spectre speeder, but the claw couldn't pick up the present, so I reached out the door, grabbed the present, and went back inside." He finished.

"Alright, then, sweetie." Maddie gave Danny a look that said ' _We'll be talking about this later'._

Danny opened the door to the bus, and went outside, Sam and Tucker right behind him. Everyone else soon followed. Before anyone could do anything else, Danny, Sam and Tucker quickly took charge of the group. Danny assessed where they were in the Zone, not using his map since he only brought it should the humans need it. "Of all of my allies here, The Kingdom of Aragon is closest, The walk there will take about three days, so we'll be meeting Princess Dorathea then."

"Danny, you can't have ghostly allies, ghosts are putrid, ectoplasmic-" Maddie was cut off by Danny, and was slightly taken aback by the complete one-eighty her son's personality took.

"Mom,Dora is not bad in the slightest, infact, she holds me in high respects. Sam, Tucker and I helped free her and the kingdom from her brother. An evil ghost wouldn't _knight a human_. Now, repeat after me, Not. All. Ghosts. Are. Evil." Danny was not happy about his parents shameless bias against ghosts, and it drove him _up the wall_ when they assumed that every ghost was inherently evil.

Maddie looked absolutely livid. "Don't talk back to me young man!"

Danny didn't pay her any more attention, and once again started telling people what to do.

"Why should we listen to you, _Fenturd._ " Dash protested.

"Because, Dash. Sam, Tuck, and I are you're _only_ hope of getting out of the Ghost Zone alive." Danny snapped. He could feel his anger rising in his chest. This was going to be a long trip.

* * *

 **Hey guys! I really appreciate the reviews, they kept me motivated to write this chapter. I'm pretty bad at staying focused on one thing, so this being my only ongoing project left me distracted alot. I really hope you like this chapter, I tried for a bit of angst in the middle (if that part with Maddie crying even counts).**

 **\- Can't wait to write the next chapter!**

 **PhAnToMxGhoulkaneki - I love these field trip stories, too. I'm reading, like, four at once.**

 **Before I go, who should Danny and (not) Friends meet in the next chapter? I'm thinking Danielle, but I might change that, and I would LOVE some suggestions! Thanks ahead of time!**


	3. And, We're Off!

"Alright, everybody!" Danny shouted, much to almost everyone's surprise. "Take your bags and empty them!"

"Why?" Valerie asked, agitated.

"We'll be separating what we need from what we don't. Simple as that. Anything we don't or won't need on our trip will be left behind." Danny explained.

"What about the stuff we leave?" Mikey asked, timidly.

"Whatever we don't need will be left inside the spectre speeder. I know exactly where we are, so I _might_ be able to get all of your stuff once we're back in the Real World." Danny said. "Take only important things. Food, water, if you brought extra running shoes keep those, too."

Tucker came up behind Danny. "Dude, calm down. You're acting too _not-Fenton!_ " He whispered.

Sam came up next. "Yeah, you need to relax."

"How can I relax when the goddamn class got stuck in the _fucking Ghost Zone!?_ " Danny asked incredulously. His eyes flashed green, luckily, no one but Sam and Tucker saw. "And I can't help it, anyway! My obsession is protecting humans! I can't protect them when they're trapped in the Ghost Zone!" He whisper-yelled.

"Danny! Calm. Down." Sam wanted to yell, but she didn't want to attract more attention. "They'll be fine, okay? We'll get out of here completely unscathed. No one will get hurt, and no one will find out your secret." She tried getting Danny to relax, and it worked.

"You're right, thanks. I'm worrying too much." Danny rubbed the back of his neck. He then looked at Paulina and Star, both wearing high heels. "You two might want to take those off, we'll be walking for two days straight, and that's only to get to Dora!" He yelled to them.

"What do you mean?" Paulina asked.

Danny walked over to the pair. "If you wear those shoes while we're walking, not only will your feet hurt by hour two, but they might start to chafe and bleed."

The girls' faces blanched at the thought of their perfect feet being bloody and calloused. Valerie stifled a laugh, while Sam just straight burst into tears from laughing so hard.

"We don't have any other shoes." Star pointed out.

"You'll have to either snap the heels off and turn your shoes to flats or take them off and walk barefoot. Your choice." The girls didn't like either option.

They both, eventually, chose to just get over it and snap their heels off. Paulina did so with tears in her eyes.

The Fentons were the worst when it came to getting them to give up some of their stuff. Danny managed to convince his Dad to take only the Jack o' Nine Tails and the Fenton Fisher, using the excuse that most of his other weapons didn't work. Maddie was more difficult to persuade, however since most of her weapons actually worked. Eventually, Danny had convinced her to leave everything but her ecto sabre **(A/N You know, that light sabre like thing she had in Maternal Instincts?)** , and a wrist ray.

Danny pulled his ghost gauntlet gloves out of his pocket and pulled them on. "Everybody ready?" He asked the group. Hearing a chorus of 'yes's, Danny said. "Alright, everybody follow me."

Danny, Sam, and Tucker stayed a few metres ahead of the group to keep them from hearing their conversations. Frostbite had taught Danny many dead and unused languages, like Latin and Esperanto. Since Sam and Tucker also knew Esperonto, though not to the extent that Danny did, the group used it to keep anyone who might be listening clueless to their conversation.

" _How are we gonna handle this?"_ Danny had started panicking again, much less now than earlier. " _When we get to Aragon Dora's gonna call me 'Sir Phantom'. What'll we tell them?"_

" _Calm down, Danny. We'll worry about that when we get there."_ It was Tucker's turn to bring Danny out of it. " _Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"_

"Tucker!" Both Sam and Danny yelled at the same time. The volume caused Mikey, Lester, and Nathan to flinch. Sam continued. "Bad Luck Tuck strikes again!"

"I'm not Bad Luck Tuck!" He shouted defensively.

In ghost so that no one would know what he said, Danny muttered. "Beygukc _dohh,_ Qeygon (Fucking _hell,_ Tucker)."

Switching back to esperonto, Tucker whispered. " _I don't know what you just said, Danny, but I take offence to that."_

" _You should."_ Danny joked, punching Tucker in the arm playfully.

The walk went well for about an hour and a half, then people started complaining about being hungry. Tucker checked his PDA and, sure enough, it was lunchtime in the human realm.

"Fine, we'll sit down to eat for half an hour, then we're back to walking." Danny said to the group.

Sighing with relief, everyone simultaneously dropped to the ground and rummaged through their bags for their lunches.

"Wait, everybody!" Maddie yelled. She turned to Danny. "How long did you say it would take to get out of here, sweetie?"

Danny thought for a second. "Well, it'll take about two days to get to the Kingdom of Aragon, then from there it'll take about three days to walk to the Far Frozen, then the trip back to our portal would be a few hours, so, about five and a half days." He concluded.

"Well then, kids. I think we should all ration our food so that it lasts." Maddie said to the group.

"Actually, Mrs. Fenton, that won't be necessary." Tucker spoke up. "We were prepared for this trip to be in the Ghost Zone, and we prepared for the worst. I've got tonnes of food in my bag, and Danny's got water in his. Everyone can eat what they brought today, just make sure it lasts the whole day."

"Well, alright." Maddie said. "Everyone, listen up! We won't need to ration our food, but make sure that the meal you brought with you today lasts as long as possible."

And with that, everyone started eating. Danny, Sam, and Tucker stayed a few metres away from the rest of the class, and talked about their plans in Esperanto, although Danny wasn't paying attention.

" _Hello, Earth to Danny?"_ Sam snapped her fingers in Danny's face, bringing him out of his thoughts.

" _Oh, uh. Hehe."_ He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. " _Sorry, I kinda spaced out there."_

" _We know."_ Sam deadpanned. " _What's got you so distracted?"_

" _This entire situation has me distracted. I just can't think straight."_ He explained.

" _Why not, dude?"_ Tucker asked.

" _I think it has to do with my ghost half. I can barely keep a train of thought other than 'protect humans'. It's driving me nuts! It's not usually this strong of an urge, either."_ He said.

" _Maybe it's 'cause we're in the Ghost Zone."_ Tucker proposed. At Danny's questioning glance, Tucker elaborated. " _Maybe, because we're in the Ghost Zone, your ghost half's instincts are stronger. Both because of the fact that we're in the Ghost Zone, and because of the inherent danger that humans are in when we're here."_ He shrugged.

Danny mulled over that for a second. That's definitely possible, and probably the most likely explanation. " _Thanks, Tuck."_ Just as he said that, his ghost sense went off. He switched to speaking ghost involuntarily. "Aad, pduq (Ooh, shit)."

The trio started looking around frantically, whoever set off Danny's ghost sense in the Zone _had_ to be powerful. Soon, Danny was tackled by a black and white blur.

Jack saw this from where he was sitting and screamed. "GHOOOOST!" Before aiming the Jack O' Nine Tails at the ghost attacking his son.

"Dad, wait!" Danny shot up from underneath the monochrome ghost and stood in front of it.

"Danny, get out of the way, there's a ghost!" Maddie all but screamed to her son.

"I know that." He deadpanned. "Put your weapons _down_." Maddie and Jack reluctantly lowered their weapons.

Before anyone could say anything else, Paulina squealed with joy. "Look everyone, Phantom came to rescue me!"

"I most certainly did _not_. I don't even know who you are." The ghost said, floating in front of Danny. Now that everyone could could see it, they realized it was a little girl who just so happened to _look_ like Danny Phantom. She turned back to Danny. "I was wondering when you were gonna visit me!" She joked.

"Sorry, Ellie. Not visiting this time around." Danny gestured to the class. "This was a field trip gone wrong, we're stranded."

"Danny, who is this?" Maddie asked, a bit wary of the ghost so close to her son.

The ghost spoke first. "I'm Danielle, Danny's cousin." At the looks of confusion she got, she added. "Phantom's cousin."

"And just so you know, _Mom and Dad,_ Ellie is a _good ghost._ " Danny put extra emphasis on good.

"I told you to stop calling me that! It's Dani! _Not_ Ellie!" She seemed annoyed.

"Sorry, _Ellie,_ but do you want everyone to be confused by having two people named 'Danny' in the group?" Maddie noticed that Danny teased Ellie the same way he did Jazz when they were younger.

"Then call me Elle! I don't like being called Ellie." She whined.

"Alright, Elle." Danny smirked. "Happy now?"

"Yes, yes I am." She said as she floated up to eye level with Danny. Then, Elle noticed Valerie in the group of people. "Valerie!" She zoomed over to her other friend.

"Quit it, Phantom." Valerie said, no hint of playfulness in her tone.

"Rude!" Elle said, floating back towards Danny. When she got to him, she asked. "Sdiq's _don_ lnaxhoj (What's _her_ problem)?"

Quietly, Danny replied. "Pdo'p jiz yaepo pdo's pqayg un qdo Cdapq Wako (She's mad 'cause she's stuck in the Ghost Zone)."

"Ahh. I can help you guys out if you want. I'm guessing you're going to the Far Frozen?" Danny nodded. "Since I live there, it'll be no problem getting you guys there. I guess you probably just need an escort since Danny knows his way around here, huh?"

"Yup, that'd be great, Elle. Thanks." And with that, the group continued eating until their half hour was up.

* * *

 **So, that's another chapter for you beautiful people! I actually managed to get this done in only _one day_! Usually, I'm a really slow writer, but this time I just flew through this chapter.**

 **I decided that Danny ad Dani should have a sibling relationship, since I find those easier to write. Sorry to those who wanted their relationship to be father/daughter.**

 **The cipher for the ghost speak in this story is the same one for _Ghost Speak_ so it shouldn't be too difficult to figure out. **

**I'll have the next few chapters up soon, I know I should space them out more, but the reviews keep me alive! I have no schedule for uploading these what-so-ever, It's just up once it's done.**


	4. Stress'll Kill Ya

"Alright, it's been half an hour since we sat down, let's get a move on!" Danny yelled as he, Sam and Tucker packed their things away. When no one moved, Danny shouted, "NOW!"

Everyone spooked at the volume of Danny's voice. Slowly, almost fearfully, everyone packed up their things and stood.

Valerie had the aching suspicion that something was off about Danny. He had been acting strangely since they entered the Ghost Zone. _He's being overshadowed!_ Her mind screamed to her, but rational thought pushed that to the back of her mind, that can't be it. He's still acting like Danny, just, different, too. More confident, more- more… Controlling. _He said he'd been here before, so he can't be stressed by the Zoe itself, what's making him act so different?_ Then it dawned upon her. _He's worried because we're here._ Valerie decided it would be a good idea to try to talk to him about it, but definitely later.

Elle floated in front of the group with Sam, Danny, and Tucker, and the quartet spoke esperonto to communicate once again, not realizing that the nerds, Lester, Nathan, and Mikey were inching closer to them, suspicion warping their features.

" _I'm telling you guys, I'm going to go nuts!"_ Danny complained to his friends.

Elle spoke up, " _Don't worry cousin, anything goes wrong, we're here to help."_

" _Elle is right, Danny. We'll help you through that."_ Sam bumbled on the last word, " _This."_

Then Tucker added, " _Yeah, dude, take it easy. We got your back."_

Danny sighed. " _Thanks, guys. I don't know what I'd do without you."_ He pulled Sam and Elle into a hug, seeing as he was in between them.

"What'd they say, Lester? I couldn't hear." Mikey asked the taller nerd.

"They are really fluent in Esperanto, I could only pick up a few words. But, I heard that ghost girl say cousin." Lester replied, but was cut off by Nathan.

"She was addressing Danny specifically, like she called him cousin." He added.

"Wait, what? So that ghost girl called Danny 'cousin'? That doesn't make any sense!" Mikey pointed out.

"I know, but that's what I heard." Lester sighed. Looking back over at Danny, he noticed Danny turn his head away, like he was watching them.

Danny pulled his group very close together, voice barely a whisper, he told them. "We forgot that the nerds know some Esperanto." Everyone paled. He then addressed Elle, "And they heard you call me cousin. What are we gonna do?"

Elle spoke, in ghost now so no one but Danny understood. "U'j pannv, Zikkv (I'm sorry, Danny)!" She hugged her arms around his neck.

Danny was shocked for a second by her reaction, but quickly came out of it. Hugging the little girl latched to his neck, he whispered to her. "Uq'p agiv, Ohho. U'j kaq jiz iq vae (It's okay, Elle. I'm not mad at you)." He switched back to english. "They probably don't suspect anything, anyways. For all they know, you just slipped up because of a shared first name. It's fine."

Elle slowly let go of Danny's neck, but instead of floating next to him, she climbed onto his shoulders. "I'm sitting here now!"

Danny smirked. "I could throw you off no problem, you know. You're like, twenty pounds in ghost form." He teased, but let Elle stay on his shoulders, anyway.

"So, what are we gonna do about them?" Sam jabbed her thumb towards the nerds behind them.

"We'll have to evade any questions they ask about it, for one thing. Change the subject or dance around it until they give up." Danny spoke, voice still a whisper.

Elle rested her chin on top of Danny's head. "You _could_ tell them, Danny."

"Right, like I'm going to do _that_." Danny rolled his eyes, only half joking. "I'm sure that if it weren't a life or death situation then the A-listers would have had their fair share of laughs at my expense. I hear them snickering right now."

"About what?" Tucker asked.

"The quote 'loser and his loser friends that like to be in the Ghost Zone'." Danny said. He then added. "And the ghost girl on his head." This caused Elle to laugh loudly, and Jack to scream "GHOOOST!"

* * *

Maddie looked up at her son and his friends from her place in the back of the group. Noticing that the ghost girl, Elle, Danny called her, was on her sons shoulders, she activated her wrist mounted ecto-ray. Seeing a certainly evil ghost so close to her son made Maddie want to scream and destroy that ectoplasmic reconstruction of post-human consciousness.

Slowly, Maddie raised her arm and aimed at the ghost on her baby boy's shoulders. She checked to make sure that it was on full power. Knowing that none of her weapons could harm humans put her at ease as she prepared to fire at that wretched ectoplasmic being latched to her son.

Just as she activated the wrist ray, the ghost barked out a laugh. The sudden sound made by the ghost caused Jack to yell "GHOOOOST!" and jump to his left, knocking Maddie off balance. The shot from her wrist ray flew harmlessly off into the expanse of the Ghost Zone.

Seeing the ecto-blast, Danny turned his head so quickly that a normal human would have gotten whiplash. Elle squealed as she was thrown from his shoulders. Soon she, Sam, and Tucker turned to where Danny was looking. He was looking directly at his mother.

The quartet stopped walking, causing everyone else to as well. That was when Maddie saw her son glaring daggers into her very soul. He knew she shot at the ghost girl.

Slowly, Danny walked to the back of the group of students. It took everything in him to keep his eyes from flashing green as he stared at Maddie. Unblinking, he came ever closer to her, taking deep breaths each step. The group was dead silent as Danny made his way to his Maddie.

Maddie winced at the look of pure anger and… Hated? _No, that can't be it, is it?_ In her sons eyes. She knew she made the wrong decision.

After what felt like an eternity later, Danny reached Maddie and stood eye level with her, not slouching at all. "You shot at Elle." He stated, anger dripping off his tongue like venom.

Maddie had never before seen her son so angry. Why did he care so much for that- that ghost! "Yes, I did."

Maddie could have sworn that Danny's eyes turned green for a split second. "Why?" He continued to glare at her, only inches from her face.

The clear _hatred_ in Danny's voice froze her. Not even her tongue could move as she struggled to explain herself to a fifteen year old boy. "B- because she's a ghost." Maddie could feel her sons eyes burning themselves into her mind, to stay there forever. She felt like she was shrinking. "Ghosts are e-"

Danny cut her off. "Not. All. Ghosts. Are. Evil." His human half sat backseat as his ghost halfs instincts took over, telling him to protect, no matter what. It terrified him, seeing his mom so scared, but his urge to protect his cousin was stronger than his apprehension.

"Danny, calm down!" Elle came flying over and latched herself onto Danny's neck once again. Having been shocked by the sudden tackle, Danny snapped out of his anger, any and all traces of green in his eyes gone.

Refusing to say anything more, Danny held the small thirteen year old that was attached to his neck and walked back to the front of the group. No one said anything for the next twenty minutes, and in that time, Elle had climbed back onto Danny's shoulders, chin once again resting on top of his head.

There was no doubt in Valerie's mind, now. Danny is either being overshadowed, or is actually a ghost. The way Danny acted was so- so… Not Fenton. His own _mother_ looked afraid. _What would he have done if Dani hadn't interrupted?_ The thought sent shivers down her spine.

Maddie was still shaking, even after the group had relaxed and started speaking amongst each other again. _Was that even Danny?_ She looked ahead and saw that everyone but Sam and Tucker were at least five metres away from Danny. He must have terrified them. Why was he so defensive of that putrid protoplasm? He treated her like a…

...A younger sister.

Why? Why does Danny treat it like that? Why was he so angry? His eyes had turned green, it was brief, but it happened. _Is my baby boy being overshadowed?_ This thought echoed through Maddie's head until Tucker announced that it was almost _six pm_ in the human world, and that they would keep walking until they found a suitable cave to stay in overnight. They had been walking, without a single complaint, for five and a half _hours._

Realizing that he should probably say something, Danny spoke for the first time in almost six hours. "I didn't want to get mad at her like that." He whispered it, but Tucker, Sam and Elle heard it clearly. Sam and Tucker jumped at the sudden sound.

"What do you mean?" Elle asked lazily from her perch on Danny's head.

"It's like I wasn't in control of my body. I just sat there, watching it happen, but I couldn't do anything." He kept whispering, even though there was no way for anyone else to hear him. "Like my ghost half took over." He mumbled the last part, eyes never leaving the ground.

"But you're the same person, how could your ghost half take over?" Sam asked.

Danny sighed. "Ghosts have instincts different from humans. I guess that with all the worry, and the fact that my obsession is protecting innocents, that when mom shot that wrist ray at Elle I snapped." He whispered, like he was trying to explain to himself rather than his friends. Suddenly, the rocks on the pathway were far more interesting than anything else.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Bet you were expecting a fluff-fest what with how the chapter started and all. Well, NOPE!**

 **I wanted to make this chapter longer (it's only four pages long, while the others are all at least five), but I like how it ends here. I know that it was a huge timeskip at the end, but I just wanted day 1 of 5 (Danny said it would take like five days in the last chapter, right?) done. The next chaptet will be out sometime the week, so be on the lookout!**

 **~Barely Existent**


	5. Apologies and Explanations

**Hey look! Chapter 5! I was honestly expecting to just never add anything more to the story, but them today I finally got over my writer's block. I couldn't leave you guys waiting any longer than you should, so I'm posting the chapter, unedited, straight from my google docs.  
**

 **Enjoy the long awaited chapter five!**

* * *

By the time they had found a suitable place to sleep for the night, Tucker had announced that it was now seven o'clock. Even seven hours after Danny's outburst, everyone still avoided him like the plague. The area they decided to stay for the night was a large expanse of floating rock, with multiple large rocks stood up around the edges of the area. They chose that spot because the rocks would provide protection and cover should a ghost attack in the night.

Danny, Tucker, Sam, and Elle sat together in a circle, a few metres away from the rest of the group. Elle was now sitting on Danny's right, and Sam was on his left, with Tucker in between the girls. Danny refused to say anything to the group, so Tucker had to stand and announce. "Uhh, Okay everyone! We'll be stopping here for the night!"

Everyone unceremoniously dropped to the ground where they were standing, and let out a collective sigh of relief. It still astounded Maddie that the kids went seven hours without complaining. While she was sitting with Jack and Mr. Lancer, her mind kept wandering to Danny. He certainly seems upset. I don't think he's said a word since that little… Incident. Maddie just had to know, was her son silent because he was still mad at her? Or was he mad at himself? Well, it could be both. Her mind supplied.

While Maddie was fighting with herself, Danny spoke for the first time in almost an hour. "Why?" It was barely a whisper, and Tucker and Sam had to strain to hear him.

"Why what, Danny?" Elle asked, looking up into her cousin's eyes.

"Everything, just why?" Danny raised his voice, prepared to rant. "Why did we have to come to the Ghost Zone? Why'd Skulker have to ruin the spectre speeder? Why'd I have to take charge? Why did Mom shoot at you?" He then dropped his voice so low Elle could barely hear him. "Why'd I lash out at her like that?"

Sam hadn't heard the last thing Danny said, but she had a good guess. "Because, Danny, life just isn't fair sometimes-"

Tucker cut her off. "Or most times, in our case."

Sam elbowed Tucker in the ribs, then continued speaking. "-but you just have to move on. You should apologise to your mom."

Danny didn't look away from his lap for a second. "Yeah, I guess." He mumbled.

"Aww, come on Danny!" Elle floated up onto Danny's shoulders. "I'll go with you if you want!"

Danny smiled slightly and turned to look at the thirteen year old on his shoulders. "Alright, I guess it's better to apologise now rather than later, huh?" Danny stood up and started walking towards his mother, growing more and more nervous and anxious with each step. He looked up at her for a second, and saw her turn her head away, like she was watching him and got caught.

Elle, sensing Danny's apprehension, hugged the back of his head from her perch on his shoulders. "You can do it, Danny, she doesn't hate you." Danny nodded and straightened his shoulders slightly.

Maddie glanced over to where her son was talking with his friends and that- that thing. She was looking at Danny, seeing the clearly guilty expression on his face, and then it floated onto her baby's shoulders. Maddie clenched her teeth in disgust. She wanted so badly to shoot it, keep it away from her son, but she didn't want to push Danny away further. She turned back to Jack and Mr. Lancer, but she just couldn't focus on the conversation. All Maddie could think about was the thing Danny insisted was good, the thing that caused him to react that way to her shooting at it.

That's it, the ghost had to have done something to her son, there's no way that this ghost is actually good, no possible way that Danny actually cared about it, it's just got Danny, and maybe even Sam and Tucker, brainwashed. Under its control. It probably isn't even related to Phantom, it probably isn't even a little girl! It's all got to be a lie to convince the teens that it's good!

Maddie shot one more look over her shoulder, towards Danny and his friends, when she saw Danny stand up with that thing still on his shoulders. He had determination in his eyes, enough for Maddie to notice, but he had fear clouding most of it over. Why is he afraid? Is the ghost controlling him now? Maddie asked herself as she turned to once again face Jack and Mr. Lancer, not knowing that Danny was walking toward her.

After what felt like an eternity for him, Danny was finally within arms reach of his mother. Slowly, he reached his hand out and touched her on the shoulder. He felt his mother tense when he touched her before she turned around. He noticed her breathe a sigh of relief seeing Danny, then look up at Elle resting her chin on Danny's head and narrow her eyes.

"Uh, Mom, can I talk to you for a second?" Danny asked quietly, barely making eye contact.

"Sure, sweetie." Maddie started to get up, not taking her eyes off of the ghost for a second.

Danny led Maddie a small ways away from everyone else, sat down, and gestured for her to do the same. Reluctantly, and still not looking away from the ghost on her sons head, Maddie sat, cross legged, on the dirt.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Danny?" Maddie managed to pull eyes away from the ghost to look into her sons eyes.

Danny looked down at his lap once again. "I- I wanted to apologise for lashing out like that, I don't know what came over me." He grinned sheepishly, looking up once again.

Maddie narrowed her eyes at the ghost on her sons shoulders. "Oh, that's alright, sweetie. I think I might know what caused such a reaction."

Danny visibly tensed, as did the ghost. "Yo- you do?" Maddie noticed that the ghost and her son reacted almost the exact same way. It had to have done something to him.

"Oh, yes, sweetie. Though I'd like to talk to you about it in private." She spoke directly to the ghost.

Elle jumped slightly, she wasn't expecting to be directly addressed. "Oh, okay, Mrs. Fenton. I was only here for moral support anyways." She floated up off of Danny's shoulders, and, after giving him a reassuring look, flew back over to Sam and Tucker.

"So, uh, why do you think I did what I did?" He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck, a telltale sign that he was nervous.

"Well, sweetie, I'm going to be completely honest here. I think that ghost did something to you." Maddie stated bluntly.

Danny paled, which was something not thought possible for the deathly (no pun intended) pale child. "Yo- you what?"

"I think that that ghost is the reason you reacted that way." Maddie repeated. "I believe it did something akin to overshadowing, allowing it to influen-"

Danny cut her off. "Elle most certainly did not make me do that! Why do you blame everything that ever happens to this family on ghos-"

This time Maddie was the one cutting the other off. "Daniel James Fenton, do not speak to your mother that way." Danny winced at the use of his full name. "As I was saying, I know that whatever happened earlier was influenced, at some degree, by ghosts. Your eyes were glowing green Danny, there's no way a ghost wasn't involved at some level." Maddie elaborated on her previous statement.

Danny gulped. "You saw that?" He mumbled. "I thought I had that under control…" He trailed off.

"Had what under control, Danny?" Maddie prodded.

Danny looked up, finally actually meeting Maddies eyes. "My eyes mom, I thought I had them under control, they didn't feel like they were glowing, they felt like they usually do."

"What do you mean, Danny? Is this a common occurrence?" Maddie asked, though she knew full well that she wasn't talking to her son anymore, she needed to keep up the cluelessness charade.

"Well, not really." Danny paused for a second. "I guess that it has to do with being around ectoplasm and eating ectoplasm contaminated food since I was little? Like a side effect of being near it so much, especially with a ghost portal in the basement?" He rubbed his neck again, he just didn't know what to tell her. "Kind of like how I keep setting off your ghost equipment?"

Maddie just stared at her son. That was definitely her Danny, not some ghost in his body. "The ecto-signature I pick up in your bedroom sometimes." She mumbled. "It's ectoplasmic contamination, of course! That would explain the Ghost Gabber, the Fenton Finder, the Boomerang, all of it detecting you!" She was rambling now, and she knew it. "Why didn't I think of this before? It's obvious! Here I was thinking you were overshadowed, when really, my baby boy has an ecto-signature from exposure to ectoplasm!"

Danny, now uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation, tried to change the subject. "Well, now that that's been worked out, I wanted to ask you something."

Maddie stopped rambling, looking back into her sons eyes. "Of course, sweetie! What is it?"

Danny relaxed slightly, knowing that he had successfully moved his mother's thoughts away from his biology, before speaking. "Uh- Why don't you trust Elle? And before you say anything, yes, she is a ghost. But she's also just a thirteen year old girl. Can't you just give her a chance?"

Maddie mulled over this for a second. On one hand, she knew, or at least thought she knew, that all ghosts are evil, but on the other, Danny really did trust this ghost girl, she couldn't be too bad. She seemed to know one of the girls in the class, Valerie, her mind supplied, and she seemed to like her. Finally, Maddie came to a decision. "Alright, Danny, I'll give it a try."

Joy filled Danny's eyes as he hugged his mother. "Thanks, Mom."

Maddie hugged him back. "You're welcome, Danny." She smiled softly before letting Danny get up and go back to his friends.

When Danny reached his group, everyone noticed his expression, it was a much happier expression than before he spoke to Maddie. "So, I'm assuming it all went well?" Tucker asked.

Danny smiled and nodded. "Yeah, she's even willing to give Elle a chance, maybe she'll finally start to listen when I tell her that not all ghosts are evil."

"That's great, dude!" Tucker raised his hand for a high five.

"I know!" Danny gave Tucker the highest of fives.

"So she and Mr. Fenton won't be shooting at me 'til we get to the Far Frozen?" Elle asked excitedly.

"Well, she won't. She'll probably convince Dad to give you a chance, too. Isn't this great?" Danny replied, just as excited as Elle. "Hey, Tuck, what time is it?"

Tucker checked his precious PDA. "It's about eight." He replied.

Danny nodded. "We should probably eat and sleep soon, it'd be better to wake up early so we can get out of here sooner." The small group hummed in agreement.

Pulling out their half-eaten packed lunches, the two humans of the group began munching away on the remnants of salad or leftover meatloaf. Danny, after rummaging through his bag for a few minutes, found his mostly untouched sandwiches, offering one to Elle before eating half of his own.

"Danny, you should really eat more than half a sandwich. Even if you are a hybrid, you still need to eat." Sam scorned around a forkful of lettuce.

"Yeah, dude, how can you eat so little and still function?" Tucker asked, though it could barely be heard through all of the food stuffed in his mouth.

"I've told you guys before, I really don't need to eat as much as a regular human does." Danny explained, slightly exasperated. "All of my bodily functions are significantly slower than yours, so it takes way longer for me to digest any food I eat." After a few seconds of silence, Danny continued. "I don't even like to eat as much anyways, for some reason all human food tastes, like, the exact same. Honestly, I prefer emotions over food." He made sure to speak in Esperanto.

At the blank looks recieved from Tucker and Sam, Elle decided to add more to Danny's explanation. "All ghosts can absorb emotions, you guys, not just evil ones like Spectra. It's just that for a normal ghost, they use human emotions to restore and replenish ectoplasm, like eating when you're hurt or sick. While for a hybrid, we can actually just, like, eat emotions instead of food."

Sam swallowed her mouthful of salad, then, after a breath, responded. "Well that's great and all, but doesn't it feel wrong using someone else's emotions as food?" Tucker nodded in agreement to the question.

Danny reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhh, not really? I don't do it like Spectra, obviously. I wouldn't purposefully inflict negative emotions on someone for a light snack. I usually just, uhh, absorb? Yeah, absorb. I usually just absorb positive emotions anyway. This is gonna sound really weird, but, positive emotions like happiness, excitement, etc. just taste better." This received some confused stares from the two humans of the group.

Sam decided to just change the subject right then and there. Switching back to English, she started. "Uhh, okay~~~." She dragged out the 'okay'. "So, sleeping arrangements?"

"We'll probably just end up sleeping on the ground, unless Mom has fifteen of those 'Instant Sleeping Bag, Just Add Water!' (A/N Look! Another reference to Maternal Instincts! I wonder what my favourite half hour episode is?) things she sometimes carries with her." Danny made sure to sound like the Shamwow guy while saying that.

"With some nice backpack pillows!" Tucker added.

"Yeah, I know, I was just trying to change the subject." Sam relented. "It worked, didn't it?" The other three could only nod.

"Well, Danny and I should probably sleep a little ways away from everyone else." Elle started.

"Okay, I get why you would need to sleep away from everybody else, with the whole 'turning back to human when asleep or unconscious' thing, but why Danny?" Tucker asked. "He's already in human form."

Danny and Elle just looked at each other, before finally, Elle said. "Pa qdov zak'q gkas? (So they don't know?)"

Danny shook his head. "Ka, U dirok'q pholq uk qdo sijo naaj ip ouqdon ab qdoj ban voinp. (No, I haven't slept in the same room as either of them for years.)"

Suddenly, and much to the two humans confusion, Elle burst out laughing. "Oh, man, if they really don't know this is gonna be so~ embarrassing for you to explain!" Danny shot her a death glare. "And I am so~ not helping you, either!" She continued laughing.

Danny gave an exasperated sigh that almost sounded rehearsed. "Ugh. Not. Cool." This caused the small Phantom to burst into another fit of giggles. "You keep laughing like that and I won't even need to tell them, they'll hear it straight from you."

In between giggles, Elle managed to say. "What? Gonna make me explain it for you?"

Danny smirked. "Nope, but they'll hear it, I already do."

This caused Elle to freeze immediately, her face blushing a light green. "Cannot." She grumbled.

"Well, not anymore, you stopped." Danny grinned like an asshole as Elle's face became a shade darker.

Sam broke through the slightly awkward silence. "Uh, what are you guys even talking about?"

"Yeah you two made more sense when you were speaking that ghost gibberish." Tucker chimed in.

Danny growled knowing full well that he'd have to tell them. Elle was the one with a shit-eating grin as Danny grumbled out. "Ghosts purr."

* * *

 **Honestly I LOVE the ghost purring headcanon, so I just HAD to fit it in here somewhere. What better way to slam some new shit into your face then to slam you with shit like this after the angst-fest from the first three pages of the chapter? I'm a scumbag and I know it, and I'm still REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY sorry for the long wait, I'd be mad at me, too.**


	6. Cores and Mild Confusion

**SO! I'm back everyone! After that painfully long hiatus, I finished writing chapter five two days ago. I suggest you read it before reading this one. The chapter is actually called Apologies and Explanations, which I find hilarious, considering that it replaced my little Authors note that was solely me apologizing.**

 **This chapter** ** _is_** **really short, but I just wanted to write some fluff to counter that bit of angst from the last one. Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

"What?" Sam asked, confusion clear on her face and in her voice.

Danny's ears became tinted red as he repeated, more clearly this time. "Ghosts purr."

"You _purr_." Tucker parroted. "You mean, like a cat?"

Danny grumbled out something in ghost that sounded vaguely similar to 'Oh fuck this' and nodded.

Tucker burst out laughing, while Sam chuckled lightly. "How did we not know about this before? It's been over a year and neither of us heard it." Tucker muttered as he gasped for air.

"Laugh all you want, guys. It's embarrassing as _hell_." Elle so _helpfully_ added. Danny punched her arm.

It was okay because she's also got super strength.

"You do it too, even more so 'cause you're younger." Danny pointed out.

Elle stuck her tongue out at him.

"So, let me get this straight." Sam stopped laughing and took on a slightly more serious tone. "Ghosts and half-ghosts _purr_." At Danny's and Elle's nods she continued. "So, when you're extremely content, or sleeping, you purr." Another set of nods. "So, exactly like when cats purr?"

Danny spoke now, slightly less embarrassed now that they weren't laughing anymore. "Yes, but when I'm awake I can keep myself from doing it. That's probably the only reason you guys didn't know before. The problem is that when I sleep, I can't control whether I purr or not, meaning that if I sleep too close to everyone else, and someone wakes up in the middle of the night and hears me purring in my sleep, I'm screwed."

Sam nodded in understanding, though now Tucker needed to voice his question. "How would you even purr anyways? That's not typically a sound that humans can make."

Elle answered. "It has to do with our cores. For regular ghosts, the core is a replacement of the heart, but for hybrids, it just kinda chills right next to it. Anyway, about the purring, the core vibrates, making a sound that's actually _really_ close to a cat's purr." This received a nod from both humans.

"Not only that," Danny added. "but a ghost's core is always vibrating. The problem is that sometimes it's loud enough to hear, and that's usually if the ghost is injured, showing affection, sleeping, or just happy."

"Injured?"

"It stimulates healing."

"Cool. Okay, so with this new info, we should definitely make sure Danny and Elle sleep away from everyone else." Sam slapped her hands together. "So, we'll need to think of a convincing lie to explain why you and Elle aren't with the rest of the group."

"That'd be useful, but I don't think it'd be necessary." Tucker said. "They could wait until everyone else is asleep before going down themselves, then wake up earlier than everyone else with a little help from Sonya." He waved his PDA in the air. "She's got an alarm."

"Thanks, Tuck, but I don't think we'll need… Sonya, either. We need way less sleep than you guys do." Danny said. "Only, like, five hours over your eight."

"Oh, yeah." Tucker trailed off.

* * *

For the next hour, Danny, Elle, Sam, and Tucker discussed their game plans for tomorrow.

"...If we go as far as we did today, we should get to Aragon early in the afternoon." Danny calculated.

"I can't wait to see Dora!" Elle exclaimed. "She's always so nice to me!"

"That's probably because your cousin there helped _me_ save her kingdom." Sam smirked.

"Granted, you were doing fine on your own, but Tuck and I got you out of there." Danny grumbled.

"I know, but teasing you is _great_." Sam intoned gleefully.

Danny, oh so mature Danny, stuck his tongue out at her in retaliation.

* * *

Soon, the class and adults went to sleep, leaving only the quartet of friends awake.

"We'd better go to sleep soon." Tucker yawned. "My feet are killing me."

Sam lay down on the dirt. "Good news for you, techno-geek. Sleeping on the ground is gonna leave you even more sore." She heard Tucker groan beside her. "This is why you should exercise with me."

Tucker made a face. "No way am I doing that." He lay down a few feet away from Sam.

Danny returned from a small patrol of the area with Elle. "So, should we sleep near you guys or like, way over there?" He leaned over the two humans.

"Well, Elle should probably sleep over there, but if _you_ end up purring it'll just sound like weird snoring, right?" Sam said tiredly.

"Yeah, I guess." Danny rubbed the back of his neck.

Elle floated over to him lazily. "Nope, you're staying with me mister." She dragged him away from the group of humans, near the edge of the island. The two lay down and Elle changed back to human form, cuddling up against Danny. The gentle purr of Elles core calmed Danny's nerves and soon after, he too fell asleep.

* * *

 **This chapter and the last one together are over 3k words, I believe. Hope you liked it, and _please_ don't forget to review! That's really all that's keeping my motivation up enough to write more.**

 **-Barely**


	7. Wakey, Wakey!

Slowly, Danny woke up, prying his eyes open, he tried to remember what happened the day before. As the memories of yesterday flooded back to him, he groaned. He moved to get up, but found that Elle was still curled up against his chest. He tried moving as slowly as possible to keep from waking the small thirteen year old, but eventually just decided to phase through her grip.

As he walked back towards the class, he saw that all the humans were still asleep. He grinned, knowing he had probably another hour before they started to wake up. He walked back to where Elle was sleeping and noticed her starting to stir.

"Morning, Elle." He greeted as the small girl sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Hey, Danny." She groaned back, still groggy from sleep.

"The humans are still asleep, I'd say we've got another hour 'til they wake up, wanna come for a fly?" Danny asked.

Elle's eyes lit up. "Sure!" She quickly jumped up and changed to ghost form, the two blue-white rings of energy sweeping over her body, and floated eagerly in front of Danny as he transformed as well. Raven black became stark white, a white shirt and blue jeans became a black and white hazmat suit, and red Converses became white boots.

The two monochrome ghosts launched into the air, legs forming spectral tails as they gained speed.

"Race you to that island!" Danny said to the smaller Phantom, pointing to a large mass of rock.

"Oh, you're on!" Elle yelled.

"On three then. One. Two. Three!" The two shot off at top speed, neck and neck the whole way.

The two phantoms reached the island at the exact same time. "I win!" Yelled Elle.

"Oh, no way, I won." Danny said.

"You are way wrong on that, buddy. _I_ won." Elle said snarkily.

"Fine, you win." Danny held his hands up in a placating gesture.

"You know it."

The pair started to fly back to the island that the class was on. Once they returned, Danny landed and reverted back to human form.

Valerie gasped. She got up when her sensors started beeping, a familiar ecto-signature showing on her watch. Phantoms ecto-signature. She had started sneaking around her sleeping classmates when she saw Danielle and Phantom flying around. She had decided to wait until Phantom and Danielle got closer before attacking him. Then he and Danielle landed and rings just like Danielle's and Vlad's transformation rings appeared around his waist, leaving sweet, innocent Danny Fenton where evil, manipulating Danny Phantom had been. _Danny's a halfa? Like Dani and Vlad?_

Danny's head whipped around when he heard a gasp. His eyes locked with Valerie's and his stomach twisted. She saw. She saw and she knows.

"Val." Danny called out to her. She didn't react. "Val, please. Let me explain."

Valerie nodded slowly, releasing a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Slowly, she walked towards Danny and Elle, ready to activate her suit at a moment's notice. She stopped five feet away from him.

"You're a halfa." She all but whispered it, though Danny heard it loud and clear.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah."

"And you're Danny Phantom."

"Yeah."

It was then that the information hit her. "You! You destroyed my life! You and your stupid ghost dog!" She pulled an ecto-gun out and aimed it at him. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you!"

Danny held his hands up in surrender, backing away a few steps. "Just let me explain, Val, please." At her silence he continued. "When that thing at Axion Labs happened, I had only been a halfa for a few months. When Cujo came through the portal, I didn't know how to get him to stay in the Ghost Zone. Every time I sent him here he'd go back to the real world. I tried everything I could have at the time. I only managed to get him to leave once I figured out his obsession."

"What the hell does that have to do with you getting my dad fired?" Valerie asked.

"He wanted his squeaky toy." Danny stated matter-of-factly.

"Wha'?" Valerie's anger was dulled slightly by her confusion.

"Before they installed your dad's security system, the defences were much simpler. They had guard dogs. When they installed your dad's system, the dogs became obsolete." Valerie didn't like where Danny was going. "Cujo was just a puppy when they put him down, he only wanted his squeaky toy."

Valeries eyes widened slightly. "That's horrible… But it still doesn't explain why you kidnapped the Mayor or committed all those robberies." She accused.

Danny groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. "The Mayor was overshadowed by Walker, the warden of the Ghost Zone. I broke a few rules that he made up, and escaped his prison, so he wanted to turn Amity Park into my prison. He trapped me, not the other way around."

"And the robberies?" Valerie tempted.

Danny dropped his gaze. "There was this circus in town. Circus Gothica. The ringmaster, Freakshow, had this scepter that could control ghosts. I wasn't in control of my actions when that was happening. I'm just happy he didn't make me kill anyone." Danny thought back to Sam falling off the train and shivered.

The silence from Valerie made Danny nervous, and for a second he thought that maybe she left, but when he pulled his eyes away from his shoes to look at her, she was still there. With tears in her eyes.

"Valerie, are you okay?" He jumped forward slightly, before stopping a few feet closer than he was before.

The huntress eventually managed to choke out. "Oh, god, I shot you!" Her words were jumbled together. "Y-you never meant harm! You were innocent! Oh, oh my god, Danny, I was- I was going to torture you! I- I could have killed you!" Her voice broke at the end. "I'm so s- sorry Danny!"

Danny couldn't stand to see Valerie so broken up. He ran forward and enveloped her into a hug. "I forgive you Val, I just hope you can forgive me."

She pulled away to look into his eyes. "Why would I have to forgive you? I've been shooting at you for years. I broke up with you so that I could hunt you!"

"I lied to you, Val. For so long." Danny expressed his guilt.

"I was trying to kill you, of course you lied." Valerie stated.

"I guess we'll just agree to disagree." Danny said.

Valerie smirked, then wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Ugh, I'm a mess."

"Even stuck in the Ghost Zone, you girls are still pretty vain, huh?" Danny joked.

"Shut it, Fenton." Valerie playfully elbowed him in the side. It was at this moment that Elle realized it was safe for her to return to her cousin's side without being shot, and landed once again on Danny's shoulders, as she had most of the day before.

"Come on." Danny said, beginning to walk back to the rest of the class. Valerie followed quickly, and the two matched pace. They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached their sleeping classmates.

Tucker slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. He stretched his arms over his head until he heard a satisfying *pop*. "Man, my everything hurts." He groaned as he put his glasses on.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." Danny teased as he approached his friend.

"Hey, man, I got up before anyone else did. I am therefore exempt from sleeping beauty jokes." Tucker joked as he dug through his bag for a Pop-tart.

"We need to make those last for five days, Tuck. Don't eat more than one." Danny said. "Also, Valerie was up before you. Therefore you were not, in fact, up before anyone else."

"Wait, what?" Tucker looked up at Valerie. "I did not see you there."

"I could tell." Valerie said, a hint of a teasing tone in her voice.

"Tuck, I got some important news to drop on you." Danny said sternly, then his tone lightened. "But first, I dare you to wake up Sam." He smirked.

"Oh, no way man. There is no way in hell I'm waking _her_ up again." Tucker was only half joking. "Last time I did that she hit me so hard I couldn't talk right for _weeks_. You wake her up."

"Now, why would _I_ do that? Especially when she messed you up so bad." Danny said in mock surprise.

"How about a deal." Tucker was not messing around now. He noticed Danny perk up slightly at the word deal, and he knew he had this. "You wake up Sam, and I'll do your homework for a month."

Tucker could see bits of toxic green swirling in Danny's eyes. The african american knew that it was a cheap tactic, especially with Val here, but he couldn't help it. "Nope, not falling for it this time, Tuck." Danny crossed his arms and shook his head.

Tucker smirked. He stuck out his hand. "Two months."

"Tucker, stop being a beygxav. (I'm gonna leave you to figure that out.)" Elle glared from her perch on Danny's shoulders. "I'll wake her up." She floated over to the sleeping goth before either boy could warn her. Sam was _not_ a morning person, and typically, anything or any _one_ that wakes her up meets death himself.

Elle shook Sam awake, and was rewarded with a half-hearted slap in the face. She smirked knowing what to do. She continued to shake Sam's shoulders, keeping everything but her hands intangible. Swatting the air around her, Sam realized that whoever was shaking her was intangible.

She grumpily sat up. She rubbed her fists over her eyes. "Alright Dann- Oh." She opened her eyes and realized that Elle woke her, not Danny. "What, gettin' tiny to do your dirty work, eh, Danny?" She jabbed, before plopping herself back onto the ground.

"So, uh, what did you want to tell us, dude?" Tucker asked, slightly unnerved by Valerie's presence.

"Yeah, this better be important. If you woke me up for some stupid reason, i swear I'm gonna-" Sam's threat was cut off by Danny.

"Valerie knows."

"What?!" Tucker and Sam yelled in unison.

* * *

 **So, I'm back! Finals are over, and Summer has begun, which is good news for the both of us. I get free time, and you get more frequent updates. Win win!**

 **You guys weren't expecting that plot twist, were you? I hope not. I wrote the majority of this chapter at like 1 am, so forgive me if it's extremely horrible.**

 **Who else ships grey ghost? Tell me in the reviews!**

 **By the way, when Elle spoke in ghost, she was calling Tucker a fuckboy.**

 **Y̷e̵̵͡s̴.̢**


	8. Weapons and Warring

" _What?!" Tucker and Sam yelled in unison._

"Shut up!" Danny, Elle, and Val scorned simultaneously.

Tucker flinched while Sam sheepishly voiced. "Heh, sorry."

"Okay, just _how_ and _why_ does she know?" Tucker asked, cutting straight to the point.

Elle began the explanation. "When we woke up, Danny and I went for a fly,"

"And when we returned, Val saw me transform." Danny finished. "We had a nice confrontation where she threatened to shoot me. It was fun."

"So, has the great _Red Huntress_ decided that she doesn't want to kill Danny?" Sam's voice was dripping sarcasm.

Valerie's eyes widened. "W- wait. You know?"

"That you're the Red Huntress? Yeah."

"For how long?"

"Since you first showed up. It was easy enough to figure out." Danny said. "Your identity is slightly better hidden than mine too, at least you've got a mask. The only visible difference between me and Phantom is a colour swap." He chuckled humorlessly.

"Yeah, I guess." Valerie conceded. "How has no one figured that out yet?"

"Probably because Danny _Phantom_ is a ghost, he's dead, while Danny _Fenton_ is still very much _alive_ , and as far as they know, human." Danny said.

"Fair point." Valerie said.

"Hey, Danny. Isn't Walker's prison somewhere around here?" Sam asked.

Danny thought for a second, then Elle answered for him. "Oh, yeah. I saw it when we were racing!"

"Oh, yeah." Danny said. "I'm pretty sure the path we're using cuts through part of the territory of his lair. We'll need everyone prepared for that." He turned to Sam. "How many wrist rays did you bring?"

"Class set. I've also got five lipstick blasters, and three thermoses." Sam said, rummaging through her bag. "What weapons did you bring, anyway?"

Danny dropped to the ground and reached for his bag. Rummaging through he said. "Two Fenton-Bazookas, the Booomerang, and seven handheld ecto-guns."

Valerie's mouth formed an 'o'. "Didn't you say you had water in there earlier?" Danny nodded. "How can you carry so much?"

"Super strength." Danny replied simply. "By the way, do you need any? I've still got twenty-eight bottles."

"Oh, uh okay." Valerie replied as Danny handed her a plastic bottle. "Do you mind if I ask what powers you have?"

"Not really." Danny started counting on his fingers. "Well, I've got superhuman strength, enhanced senses, cryokinesis, the ghostly-wail, this weird ghost stinger I've only ever used once, as well as all the powers other ghosts have."

"Cool." Valerie answered. "Glad I'm on your side."

"I wouldn't use anything powerful on a human, Val." Danny deadpanned, then a smirk grew on his lips. "Did you know that all ghost have fangs?"

"What? I thought only some had fangs." Valerie answered. Confused, she sat down. "The only ghost I've ever seen with fangs was Vlad."

Danny's smirk grew. "Most are retractable. I think the frootloop only bares his to look scary." He flashed Valerie a big, toothy smile, fangs _very_ easy to spot. "Nice and sharp. Wierd though, huh?"

"Cool." Valerie muttered. "I didn't know that all ghosts had fangs."

Elle said something to get Valerie's attention. When Valerie turned her head to look at the tiny Phantom, she almost had a heart attack. Elle bared her fangs and _hissed_ at her. Valerie fell onto her back.

Elle, pleased with having scared someone, started laughing. "Oh, man. That reaction was priceless! I can't scare these losers." She jerked her thumb at Danny, Sam, and Tucker. "I didn't think I'd get you though. Makes it way~ better."

Danny, and Tucker had been laughing, too, while Sam let a rare smile fall upon her lips. "C'mere." She raised her hand for a high five, which Elle gladly accepted.

"Jerks." Valerie muttered playfully.

The quintet heard a groan from someone nearby, causing the two halfas to retract their fangs. They all looked to see who was starting to wake up, slightly relieved that it was only Mr. Lancer, and not one of the A-listers.

As Mr. Lancer sat up, Danny stood and offered him a Pop-Tart.

"No, thank you, Mr. Fenton." He said, waving the pastry away. He hated those damned things.

"Uh, okay, suit yourself." Danny replied. "We brought granola bars, too, if you want one."

"Thank you, Mr. Fenton, but I've still got food from yesterday."

"Okay."

Mr. Lancer watched as Danny walked back to his small friend group. _It's strange that Ms. Gray is with them as well._ He thought. _Typically it's just Mr. Fenton, Mr. Foley, and Ms. Manson._ _I wonder if I'll ever figure them out._ "Do any of you kids have the time?"

Tucker pulled his PDA out of his pocket. "It's about eight o'clock, sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Foley." Mr. Lancer replied. "Should we wake the others?"

"Nah. They'll need to be rested for today's walk. It's a little shorter than yesterday's, but we'll need to run for a while." Danny said cooly.

Mr. Lancer was greatly confused. "Why will we need to run, exactly?"

"We'll need to cross the lair of a particularly bad ghost." Danny answered. "We'll explain fully when everyone's up."

"Alright." Mr. Lancer said as he dug through his bag until he found his leftovers.

Satisfied that Lancer wasn't really paying them any attention, Danny turned to Valerie. "Okay, no more questions til we're outta here."

"Agreed."

The quintet discussed their plans for the day until about eight-thirty. With the class finally awake, Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Valerie handed out either Pop-tarts or granola bars to everyone, and Danny gave water to anyone who requested it.

As the class ate their breakfasts, Danny, Sam, and Tucker stood on a large rock so they would be above everyone. "Okay, everyone. Listen up!" Danny shouted. "The way we'll be walking today is going to pass through a part of an evil ghosts lair, Walker's prison. Sam, Tuck and I-"

He was cut off by Dash. "You tellin' me we still gotta listen to _you_ and your _freaky friends_ , _Fenturd_?"

Danny stared Dash straight in the eye. "Yes, Dash. I am telling you that. Sam, Tuck, Elle, and I are _your_ only way of surviving in this place." He said, never breaking eye contact. "I mean, you can try and lead the class safely through Walker's lair. Be my guest." When he got no response, Danny continued. "So, as I was saying, Sam, Tuck, and I will need to hand out the ecto-weapons we brought with us."

"Danny! Where did you get access to ecto-weapons!?" Maddie exclaimed.

"Mom, you told me the password to the weapons vault last week." Danny deadpanned, then he brightened up. "Anyway, I've got a lot of knowledge, and history, with Walker. Tell 'em, Tuck." He smirked.

Tucker pulled out his PDA and read. "Danny has been sentenced to over ten thousand years in Walker's prison. Three counts of possessing real world items, three counts of harbouring humans, one count of causing a prison riot, two counts of escaping prison, eight counts of resisting arrest, twenty counts of breaking rules I haven't bothered to input, and thirty counts of assaulting guards."

"Thank you, Tuck. So, as you can see, I've got experience with this guy. If we're lucky, we'll be able to pass through without a hitch, but we're much more likely to be attacked almost as soon as we step foot on his territory." Danny explained.

"We'll give a brief demonstration of how each weapon works before we hand them out." Sam started. "This is a wrist ray, Everyone will be getting one. It's basically a bracelet, but when you press this button, "She pressed it. "It becomes a small ecto-gun." Sam pulled out a lipstick blaster. "This is a lipstick blaster, it looks like a normal tube of lipstick, but when twisted open completely, a button is revealed on the end. Press the button to fire."

Danny took up where Sam left off, pulling a thermos from Sam's bag. "This is a fenton thermos. It's pretty simple to use, just take off the lid, aim, and fire. It'll trap the ghost inside, and it can hold up to ten."

"We've already designated which weapons go to who, so as we call your name, come over here and Valerie will give you what you're supposed to get." Sam started calling names.. "Dash, you get a wrist ray, Kwan, you get a wrist ray, Lester, you get a wrist ray and a thermos, Mikey, you get a wrist ray and a thermos, Nathan, you get a wrist ray and a thermos, Paulina, you get a wrist ray and a lipstick blaster, Star, you get a wrist ray and a lipstick blaster, Mr. Lancer, you get a wrist ray and an ecto pistol, it just shoots like a normal handgun, Mrs. Fenton, you get a lipstick blaster and a Fenton Bazooka, and Mr. Fenton, you get a wrist ray and a Fenton Bazooka."

Once the class was situated, Danny and Tucker took wrist rays and ecto pistols for themselves, while Sam and Valerie took wrist rays and lipstick blasters. "Are we all ready to go?" Danny asked to the class. At the begrudging chorus of yeses and groans, they headed out, with Team Phantom in the lead, and the adults at the rear.

Seeing Danny was in a better mood today than he was yesterday, Mikey felt like it would be safe to ask him a question. He walked up to Danny and tapped his shoulder. "So, I was kinda wondering, what happens when a ghost goes against their obsession?"

Danny turned his head to look at Mikey. "Well, the simple answer is, they won't. Of course if you mean like if they were _forced_ to go against their obsession, they'd probably go insane. They'd lose their purpose of staying here, they might fade, or they might gain a new obsession." He turned back to the pathway ahead. "It's some weird stuff. I had my buddy Clockwork to explain it to me when I wanted to know, he's way better at explaining than I am." (Back in the Clocktower, Clockwork smiles at the compliment.)

Mikey wasn't expecting too many specifics there, so he was pleasantly surprised by the answer he received.

The class, seeing that Danny was willing to answer questions, began asking he and his friends things to pass the time.

* * *

 **So, how'd you like that? Please forgive me, but the majority of the chapter was, once again, written at three am.**

 **I plan on having only small amounts of Gray Ghost, I don't plan on tagging it with the ship, and I'm no good at romancey-ness anyways.**

 **Walker may or may not make an appearance next chapter! Oooh, exciting! Things have been too chill for Danny and co. haven't they?**

 **~Barely**


	9. Questions and Capture

**What's this? Two chapters in one week?**

 **Who am I and what have I done with BarelyExistent.**

 **No one knows.**

* * *

"So, Danny. Why did you come back to the Ghost Zone after your first time here?" Lester asked.

Danny shrugged. "Why not? I like it here."

"But, why do you like it here?"

"Lots of reasons, really. I'm not bullied nearly as much here as I am back home. The ghosts don't treat me or my friends like freaks, and most of our friends are ghosts, anyway."

Maddie, having over heard, felt her heart break. _Danny's bullied? Why has he never told us?_ The realization that Danny likes spending time with ghosts hit Maddie hard as well. She had noticed over the course of the trip how relaxed Danny is. _He's never this relaxed, even in his own home! Does he really feel safer in the Ghost Zone than with his own family? I must be a terrible mother._

Nathan piped up, asking a question of his own. "What all do you know about obsessions?"

Danny mulled over this for a second. "Well, for one, all ghosts have them. Some obsessions are stronger than others. Most ghosts only have one obsession, but some ghosts can have multiple. A ghost with more than one obsession typically has one main obsession, their main reason for being ghosts, while the other obsession or obsessions would be minor, and they'd be things that they liked or even obsessed over in life."

"Cool." Was Nathan's highly intelligent response.

Paulina asked the next question. "What's Danny Phantom's obsession? I bet one of them is me." She swooned.

Danny frowned. It's very impolite to ask a ghost about their obsession, but he still answered because she didn't know that he _was_ Danny Phantom. "I think it's protection. And why do you think that he has multiple? It's a rare trait for ghosts to have."

"Because he loves me! We're going to get married!" She answered dreamily.

"Shut it, Sanchez. What makes you think that Danny Phantom loves _you?_ " Sam snapped.

"Because every boy loves me, unlike _you,_ goth freak." Was Paulina's snarky reply.

"You little sh-" Sam was cut off by Danny grabbing her arm.

"Calm down. I know you want to tear her apart, but wait until we get back to Amity."

"Fine, ghost boy." Sam grumbled. "But once we're back home I'm ripping Little Miss Perfect to shreds."

"And I'd say that counts as your hundredth threat to kill, rip, maim, or destroy Paulina in the last two weeks!" Tucker exclaimed, tapping furiously on his PDA. "I think that's a new record!"

"I honestly can't tell if that was a joke or not." Sam said. "Nice job, tech nerd."

"Oh, no. I was serious. I record these things." At the looks he received from Sam and Danny, Tucker added. 'I record _everything_ we do. I mean, I can't _not_ keep records."

Elle joined in on the conversation. "Oh my Clockwork, you're such a nerd."

"Am not." Tucker defended, protectively holding his PDA against his chest.

"You totally are." Valerie chimed. Everyone in their little group laughed, save Tucker.

"Fine." He grumbled, cheeks reddening slightly.

Danny wrapped his arm around Tucker's shoulder. "Aw, cheer up, man. Maybe a look at the beautiful vomit coloured sky will brighten your mood." He said with mock enthusiasm.

"Oh, why thank you, Sir Danny. I am forever grateful." Tucker stopped and gave a quick bow. "One thousand thank you's, my lord, for the brightening of moods."

"Oh my God, guys. Shut up." Sam only half teased. "How far do you think we are to Walker's place?"

Danny looked at their surroundings. "Not too far, now. I think I see the prison in the distance."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Wonderful."

"Hey Elle, you mind flying ahead to see how far we are?" Danny asked the small phantom.

"Sure, I'll be right back." Elle said before zooming up the path.

After a few seconds, Elle returned. "I'd say we're about a mile away. You guys better get ready."

"Thanks." Danny replied, then he called to the group. "Okay guys. We're about a mile from Walker's territory. Get ready to run."

A few students groaned about having to run on their already sore feet, but other than that, the class was silent.

Kwan decided to ask Danny a question next. "Hey, uh, what's this Walker guy's obsession?"

Danny answered immediately. "Rules. His obsession is rules, making rules, enforcing rules, and obeying rules. He's a nutjob, too. The asshole keeps making new rules just to get me in trouble. He'd probably arrest Pariah Dark if he sees fit."

"Why's he hate you? I mean, it's obvious that he does, what with you having, like, thirty life-sentences." Star asked.

"No idea, he hated me from the start, really. The first time I came here was an accident, the spectre speeder drove itself, and he warned me that 'ignorance of the rules is no excuse for breaking them, Punk.' It was a _wonderful_ first encounter." Danny said. "Alright everyone, we're just about to reach Walker's territory. When I start to run, you all start too. Run as fast as you can, and _don't stop_."

"And don't activate your wrist rays unless you need to." Sam chimed in, then they all started running.

* * *

After about five minutes of running, the class was only halfway through the territory. Danny was genuinely impressed that the nerds were able to keep pace with him, even though he wasn't running anywhere near top speed. All was going well until…

"Hey, Punk."

Guards holding riot shields appeared all around the group, circling them in. A white ghost with a white suit and a black fedora and gloves approached Danny.

"Attack!" Danny shouted, them shot Walker square in the face with his ecto gun.

"You'll pay for that, Punk." Walker shouted. "Get them!"

The guards tossed cans over their riot shields, but no one saw them. They were too busy shooting at the ghosts. Suddenly the cans released a gas that rendered half the class unconscious almost immediately. "Don't breathe it in!" Valerie yelled while taking out two guards.

The students still standing dropped one-by-one like flies. Jack had managed to take out three ghosts before passing out, while Maddie had gotten five. Sam felt herself weakening and shot one ghost right in the eye before dropping, too. Danny was the last one standing, and as his vision faded, he saw Walker smile menacingly at him, before the world went dark.

* * *

Valerie was the first to wake up. As her memories came back to her, she immediately stood and took a head count. Fourteen. Someone's missing. She looked around the cell they were haphazardly thrown in, and tried to figure out who was gone. She was pulled out of her thoughts, though, by a groan.

Sam sat up slowly, and looked around the cell. Then she stood up, and Valerie could tell she was taking a head count, too. "Fourteen out of fifteen are present and accounted for."

Sam nodded at Valerie, then glanced around again. She walked over to Tucker and kicked him in the shin, hard.

Tucker jerked awake immediately, and clutched his aching leg. "That was totally uncalled for."

"Not really. Danny's not in here with us." Sam said harshly. Tucker paled slightly. "That means _we_ gotta check the cell."

"Oh man. Not good." Tucker said as he stood up. "C'mon Red, you're helping."

"Helping do _what_?" Valerie asked.

"Check the cell. Humans can phase through stuff in the Ghost Zone, so we've gotta check to see if everything is solid." Tucker explained as he started pushing on a wall.

"Oh, okay." Valerie walked over to the bars and pushed on them. "Bars are solid."

"So's the back wall." Tucker mumbled.

"Left wall, too." Sam said

"Right wall's solid, too." Valerie grunted.

"Floor's good."

"Lift me up, I'm gonna check the ceiling." Sam said. Tucker knelt in front of Sam and cupped his hands together, giving Sam something to step on. She pushed hard against the top of the cell. "Ugh, this is solid, too."

"Great." Valerie groaned as she moved to wake up an unconscious, human Elle.

As Elle woke up, she groaned and changed back to Phantom form before anyone else woke up.

"Can you check and see if you can phase through the walls?" Valerie asked.

"I probably can't, but I'll try." Elle groaned as she tried, unsuccessfully, to phase through the walls. "Nope, can't do it."

"Didn't think so. Should we wake the others?" Tucker asked.

"Probably should…" Sam said. "We can find Danny later."

"Yeah, he can take care of himself." Elle started. "These humans, on the other hand, need all the coddling they can get."

"Agreed." Tucker sighed.

A few minutes later, Maddie was the only one left to wake. As her memories came back to her, she jumped and took a head count, just as Valerie and Sam had.

 _Someone's missing. Who's missing?!_ She internally screamed.

"Danny!" Maddie suddenly exclaimed. "Where's Danny?!"

"We don't know where he is, Mrs. F." Sam relented. "He's not in here with us, and it's pretty hard to see into the other cells."

"We have to find him!" Maddie yelled, the poor woman was bordering on hysteria.

"Mrs. F, I know you're worried about Danny, but we need to make sure everyone here is okay first." Valerie said. "Panicking isn't going to get us out of here. We need to assess the situation."

"You're right, kids, but I think Mads should sit down." Jack said, lacking his usual excitement. "Does anyone still have any weapons?"

"I got that wrist thing." Dash said, and all the other students claimed to have theirs as well.

"And Val and I still have our lipstick blasters." Sam mumbled.

Star stood. "Paulina and I have those, too!"

"I as well." Maddie groaned from her spot on the floor.

"Well that's great, we've all got something to fight our way out!" Jack claimed, excited but still quiet. "Hey, uh, Elle, right?" Seeing her nod he continued. "Can you phase through the wall?"

"Sorry Mr. Fenton, I've already tried." Elle shrugged. "The walls are ghost proof."

"Oh." Jack seemed to deflate slightly. "How are we gonna get out of here?" Everyone was silent, each one of them lost in their thoughts.

They were pulled out of said thoughts by a groan across the hallway.

"Danny!" Sam and Valerie yelled, looking through the bars to the cell across from them.

* * *

 **So, what'd you guys think? I hope your not too upset by the "overused" (You know who you are) idea, lol.**

 **I personally plan on much more for Walker than just "arrest them then get easily beaten by a group of fifteen year olds." Seriously. He will be an actual threat to more than just Danny's secret. He will be a villain-y villain, I promise.  
**

 **Have a great day, and _please_ leave a review!**

 **~Barely Existent**


	10. It Hurts

"Hey." Danny groaned. The lights in his cell flickered on, as they had been off before. The class gasped in shock at his condition. Rather than being tossed on the floor like they were, Danny was strapped against the wall, being held upright by glowing green cuffs on his ankles and wrists, with another glowing strap held taut around his neck, keeping his head in place.

Maddie looked up and, seeing her baby boy chained up like that, freaked out. "Oh my goodness! Danny! Sweetie are you okay?!"

"Mom, 'm fine." Danny groaned. Looking around the room he was in, he muttered. "This won't be fun."

"Danny, what do you mean, 'won't be fun.' What are you talking about?" Maddie was extremely worried for her baby boy, and the others in the class shared the sentiment.

"Don't worry 'bout it." He grumbled, eyes trained on something out of the classes line of sight.

The students had only a few seconds to think about the situation before Walker showed up, flanked by two guards.

"Well, now. Looks like everyone's awake." The horribly pale ghost smirked. "I guess that means we can get started." He turned to Danny's cell, but before he could do anything, Maddie yelled from the class' cell.

"On _what_ legal grounds can you keep us here, Ghost!?" She was desperately trying to keep him away from her son as long as possible.

"Oh, I'm sure Ghost kid here told you all about my laws and rules." Walker turned back to look at the class. "But I'll humor you. You're being held here on the charges of harbouring fugitives, possession of real world items, and harboring humans and human weaponry. Happy?"

"Fugitive _s_? Plural?" Maddie asked, more to herself than anyone else.

Elle walked over to her. "He means me, Danny, Sam, and Tuck."

"Oh." Was all Maddie said. "Why doesn't he have you in a cell like that, too?"

"He only counts me as a fugitive because I'm related to Danny Phantom." Elle explained. "I haven't done anything inherently against the rules. Even if he _did_ put me in there like he did with Danny, my cousin would come and he _wouldn't_ hold back."

"If your _cousin_ really is a ' _good ghost'_." The words felt gross on Maddie's tongue. "Then why hasn't he come to help us? Considering all the sightings of him near the school, I would expect him to know of this trip."

Elle thought for a second, trying to think of a good excuse. "I'm not sure if he knew about the trip or not, I haven't seen him since, like, Christmas, so there hasn't been any time for him to say anything about it." SHe paused for a moment, "Also, he might be busy in Amity. That place gets attacked so much, he never even has time to come back to the Far Frozen, even for a visit." She turned her focus back to Walker, and Maddie did the same.

Walker turned back to look at Danny through the bars of the cell. "Well, well, well, Ghost kid. Didn't think I'd see you back here so soon after the last riot."

Danny wore a smirk that just didn't fit him at all, but Maddie thought something about it looked familiar. "Well, you know. Gotta keep up appearances."

"I don't like that attitude of yours, boy." Walker unlocked the cell and walked inside, then locked himself in. "Think I'll need to beat it out of you."

Danny scoffed, then spit in Walker's direction. "Good luck with that."

"Thanks, but I doubt I'll need it." His grin was wicked as he pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. Part of the wall connecting the cell to the hall dropped, allowing the class to see inside the rest of Danny's cell.

Screams echoed through the halls of the prison. The wall to the left of the onlookers had racks upon racks of weapons and devices. There were whips, saws, maces, anything you'd see used in torture on TV, all bloodied with crusted ectoplasm. The students screamed at the thought of _any_ of those things being used on Danny.

Danny smirked at Walker. "That all you got? I'd expect a little more than _that_ , 'Warden'." He said 'warden' in a mocking tone.

Walker growled and grabbed a whip from the wall, lashing Danny's chest. The class screamed again. Danny flinched, but kept eye contact with Walker, glaring. Walker lashed him some more. The class screamed yet again. Danny stared into Walker's eyes. This cycled, over, and over, and over, and over, and over...

Eventually, Danny's chest started to bleed.

Eventually, he'd start to flinch before the whip even cracked.

Eventually, he squeezed his eyes shut.

Eventually, the class could no longer even gasp with each lash.

It stopped.

Danny peeled his eyes open, that simple act taking _way_ more strength than it really should have. He once again glared at Walker, who now had his back to him. He surveyed the class before Walker came back. They were all sitting on the floor, a few had passed out, Maddie included. Sam, Valerie, Tucker, and Elle were still pressed up against the bars, desperately trying to help. By physically torturing Danny, Walker had effectively been psychologically torturing his classmates, his friends, his parents.

Walker turned back, once again looking Danny in the eye. His hands had extremely thick, rubber-like gloves instead of his leather ones, and he held a green rod in his right hand.

"Maybe now you'll remember to obey the rules, punk." He said as he stepped towards Danny, taking the rod and plunging it into the skin on Danny's chest. He couldn't help it, he screamed, realizing far, far too late what the rod was. Ectoranium.

Walker dragged the rod through Danny's skin with a sadistic smile, slowly and deliberately spelling out the word 'LAW', his flesh bubbling and burning as the metal drove through it. Danny tried feebly to pull away, but the cuffs kept him in place. His screams died down, and his vision blurred. Faintly, he heard his friends scream for him, but he just _couldn't_ focus. Slowly, his eyes slipped closed, and his body went limp.

* * *

 **WHAT?! I'VE RISEN FROM THE DEAD MY FRIENDS AND I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSES.**

 **NOT A SINGLE ONE**

 **NOPE**

 **I'M SORRY**

 **Please, just kill me.**

 **If it makes you feel any better though, I have midterms next week and I wrote this instead of studying.**

 **AS YOU CAN SEE, I _CLEARLY_ HAVE MY PRIORITIES IN ORDER**

 **FEEL FREE TO YELL AT ME IN THE REVIEWS**

 **BUT ALSO LEAVE AN ACTUAL REVIEW IF YOU DON'T MIND THANKS**

 **SORRY**

 **I'LL LEAVE NOW**

 **(Also that part with the carving LAW into his chest came from a review I got like three months ago because someone was panicking. Thank you for that.)**


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